US HISTORY: Wars, Conflicts & Major Battles

1. US HISTORY: Wars, Conflicts & Major Battles

2. King Philip’s War By 1675, the Indians were FURIOUS with the continual expansion of New England… And erupted in a massive rebellion. The colonists believed it was led by Algonquin Indian leader Metacom (whose English name was King Philip)… And the conflict became known as “King Philip’s War”.

3. King Phillip’s War, Cont. • Armed with guns, the Indians destroyed 12 English settlements… • But they began to starve with the colonists responded by destroying their crops. • In August of 1676, Metacom was killed and the rebellion ended… • And by 1700, there were 92,000colonists in New England… • And only 9,000 Indians.

4. The French & Indian War • Was a struggle between Britain and France for CONTROL of North America… • The British had established TOWNS and CITIES… • And often CLASHED with the Indians… • The French settled the interior and established forts… • Which were used as trading posts and appreciated by the Indians. • So when the war broke out, the French and Indians joined forces against the British… • And LOST… • And this was the END of two things: • Serious Indian resistance to white dominance in the East… • And the end of the French presence in North America.

5. The Revolutionary War • Was a struggle between American colonists and Great Britain… • The colonists wanted INDEPENDENCE… • And the British wanted the colonies to remain British property. • The PRIMARY reason for the colonists’ fight for independence… • Centered on the belief that they were being unfairly TAXED by the British government.

6. The Battle of Yorktown • Was the final battle of the Revolutionary War… • The British Army (led by Lord Cornwallis)… • Found itself trapped on a peninsula… • Surrounded by the American Continental Army from the West… • And the French Navy to their East. • The British surrender led to the Treaty of Paris, 1783… • Which granted the American colonies INDEPENDENCE from Great Britain.

7. Shays’ Rebellion • Occurred as the result of the government of Massachusetts passing a tax on farmers… • Who were often too poor to pay… • And who were reminded of UNFAIR British taxes. • A local rebellion against the tax grew into something close to full-fledged revolution… • Which the government was unable to stop because there was no ARMY under the Articles of Confederation. • The ease with which the rebels took over the state of Massachusetts SCARED people… • And led to the Constitutional Convention.

8. The Whiskey Rebellion • Erupted as the result of the new Constitutional government… • Passing a tax on whiskey. • After 500 armed Pennsylvania farmers attacked the home of a regional tax collector… • The US Army was sent to suppress the rebellion… • And it collapsed quickly after • that. • The response of the US government showed a NEW willingness to confront and crush anti-government activity… • And the NEW STRENGTH of the government under the Constitution.

9. The War of 1812 • Although the British agreed to leave all American territory at the end of the Revolutionary War… • They continued to maintain a network of forts in the northwest territory… • Territory that the US believed to be its property. • As American settlers pushed westward, they often encountered Indian resistance… • And a belief developed among many Americans that the British were ENCOURAGING the attacks. • The British were also involved in stopping American vessels on the high seas, confiscating the cargo and forcing the crew to join the British Navy (impressment).

10. The War of 1812 • US forces lost almost every major land battle… • Every major naval battle… • And Washington D.C. was torched by the British Army. • However, the British could not decisively DEFEAT the United States… • And the Treaty of Ghent established all preexisting borders between the US and British Canada.

11. The Mexican-American War • Began in 1845, with the US’ ANNEXATION of Texas, which Mexico considered its property. • In winning the war, the US gained Texas, California, New Mexico and other western territories… • And the RIO GRANDE became the border between the US and Mexico.

12. The Civil War • The immediate cause of the Civil War was the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860… • Who had run on the promise of STOPPING the expansion of slavery outside of the South. • Immediately after his election, South Carolina seceded from the Union… • And was quickly followed by six additional Southern states.

13. Fort Sumter • Was a US fort in the middle of Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. • After South Carolina’s secession, repeated orders were given to the US Army to abandon the fort… • And when an attempt was made bring supplies to the fort… • South Carolina state militiamen opened fire. • These were the first shots fired in the Civil War.

14. The Battle of Antietam • Began when Confederate General Lee became convinced… • That if the Confederacy scored a BIG VICTORY on Northern soil… • The Confederacy would gain the support of Great Britain and/or France. • Confederate armies invaded western Maryland… • And the resulting battle killed 26,000 men… • Making it the bloodiest day in US history. • The EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION was issued shortly thereafter… • Killing Lee’s hope for European assistance.

15. The Battle of Vicksburg • The city of Vicksburg, Mississippi was seen as the key to controlling the Mississippi River… • And part of the Northern “Anaconda Plan” strategy” of strangling the South by controlling its waterways. • The Battle of Vicksburg was Union General Ulysses S. Grant’s first major victory as a Union commander… • The taking of Vicksburg resulted Union control of the Mississippi River… • And the South was cut in half.

16. The Battle of Gettysburg • Resulted from another invasion of the North by Confederate General Robert E. Lee… • In the hopes that a victory on northern soil would destroy the Union’s will to continue fighting. • The resulting battle killed 51,000 men… • Was a defeat for General Lee and the Confederacy… • And is seen as the TURNING POINT of the Civil War.

17. The Battle for Atlanta • Resulted from General William T. Sherman’s invasion of the Deep South… • In this invasion, the Union had two objectives: • Destroy the South’s will to fight… • Capture Atlanta, a critical Southern railroad hub. • Atlanta was eventually surrounded, besieged… • And burnt to the ground by Sherman’s union forces.

18. The Spanish-American War • Began as the result of the US’ decision to intervene in Cuba’s revolution against Spanish rule… • And with the explosion of the USS Maine. • The US won every major land and naval battle… • And acquired the territories of Philippines, Guam, Puerto Rico… • And control over the island of Cuba.

19. War in the Philippines • At the conclusion of the Spanish-American war, control of the Philippines was handed over to America… • The people of the Philippines expected to be granted independence… • But the US wished to maintain control. • Between 1898 and 1946, a bloody, extremely costly war was waged in the Philippines… • Between the US Army and Filipino rebels who desired independence from the United States.

20. World War One • The US had no obvious business in the issues surrounding World War One… • And for much of the war, we remained isolationist and officially neutral. • Our stance eventually changed as a result of Germany’s policy of unrestricted submarine warfare in the Atlantic Ocean… • And we declared war in 1917. • Our involvement had no recognizable benefits for either ourselves OR the Europeans… • Paving the way for the rise of Hitler and Mussolini… • And after the war, we reverted to isolationism.

21. World War Two • WW2 began in 1939… • And the US remained officially NEUTRAL until 1941… • When the Japanese Empire attacked Pearl Harbor. • The next day, the US declared war on Japan, Germany and Italy… • And the war ended in 1945, with the… • Atomic attack on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

22. The Cold War WW2 destroyedmuch of the European continent… And the last two powers standing were the US and the Soviet Union… And a “Cold War”—and unofficial, indirect war, began. For sixty years after WW2, our official foreign policy was one of “containment”— As the Soviets tried to expand their power and influence by funding and supporting communisttakeover of other nations… The US tried to “contain” communism and stop its spread. A shooting war was only avoided through the concept of “Mutually Assured Destruction”— In the event of war, both countries would be destroyed.

23. Hot Wars during the Cold War The KoreanWar—the US and the United Nations repelled a Soviet and Chinese funded attack by North Korean communists upon South Korea. The VietnamWar—the US failed to prevent a Soviet and Chinese funded effort by North Vietnamese communists to take control of South Vietnam. The Soviet Union collapsed in 1992 and the Cold War ended.

24. The Afghanistan War • On September 11, 2001, a group of terrorists (most of whom were from Saudi Arabia)… • Hijacked four passenger jets, crashing one of them into a field in Pennsylvania… • One into the Pentagon, and one into each of the Twin Towers. • Al-Qaeda, a terrorist organization led by Osama bin Laden, claimed responsibility. • Because the Afghanistan government (called the Taliban) had been sheltering Al Qaeda… • The Bush administration launched an attack on that country with the goal of changing its government. • Although initially successful, the US has now been in Afghanistan for ten years… • And the Taliban has retaken more than 50% of the country.

25. The Iraq War • In May of 2003, under the mistaken belief that Iraqi president Saddam Hussein had an arsenal of weapons of mass destruction… • President Bush ordered the invasion of Iraq. • Saddam’s government was quicklyoverthrown… • No weapons of mass destruction were found… • And an extremely violent insurgency began resisting US occupation. • Approximately4500 Americans have been killed… • Estimates of Iraqi deaths range from 40,000 to more than 1 million.